


The Prom...or something...

by Of_Princes_and_Savages



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: (I love that tag!), Babysitting, Disney Movies, Fluff, Gen, OUAT Positivity Gift Exchange, Prom Night, Teenage Dorks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-08-09 07:06:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7791655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Of_Princes_and_Savages/pseuds/Of_Princes_and_Savages
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On "the best night of their lives", Prom Night, Emma and Neal decide to spend it in an entirely different way than dressed to the nines at a school dance...</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Prom...or something...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [stillsearching47](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stillsearching47/gifts).



> Happy Unbirthday stillsearching47, and a Merry OUAT Positivity Event-a-majiggy-thing! I give you the gift of Swanfire, OutlawQueen, and Rumbelle + toddler!Rumbaby for your reading pleasure!

It was Prom Night in Storybrooke. There was only one high school, but like most everything in Storybrooke, it was a small but enthusiastic bunch. The big boat ordinarily used for harbor tours in the tourist seasons had been rented for the evening, decked out in various shades of blue and silvery decorations, with a little glitter here and there to match the "Moonlit Magic" theme of the event.

Ordinarily, Emma and her friends would attend dances as a group and usually end up eating the snacks in one corner of gym and singing their own lyrics to the music. There was no chance of spiking the punch because Emma's sheriff father was usually chaperoning and he had a sharp eye.

But this was Prom Night.

Sheriff Nolan was already on the boat to mind the early arrivals. Emma grabbed her purse and headed out the door, kissing her mother on the cheek. It was a boat of juniors and seniors, so he, Coach Knight, and the other chaperones were going to have their hands full.

The "best night of your life" milestone.

Emma grabbed her purse and checked to make sure she had everything inside it. Mmm...yep. All set.

"Bye Mom, love you!"

"I love you too!" Mary-Margaret called from the door as Emma hurried down the walk. "Do you have everything?"

"Yes Mom!"

"You can call me anytime, right?"

"Yes Mom!"

"Remember-"

" _Mom_!"

"I love you!"

Emma sighed, picking up the pace as she trotted down the street. She felt a chill in her jeans, favorite sweater, and thick winter coat and stocking cap. She couldn't comprehend being out on the water in a gown.

Not _one_ of Emma's friends was headed to prom. (Except poor Regina, who's mother had practically ordered her to go and it was a miracle Regina managed to bring her own boyfriend instead of a preselected escort.) Elsa introducing her little sister Anna to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with a binge marathon and chocolate ice cream. August was grounded. (Long story.) Neal was babysitting Rose, and Lily and Emma were of the same mind: _What's the point in attending the prom as arm-candy?_

Killian Jones had been especially hard to shake. One kiss at one of the rare keggers thrown in Storybrooke made him think he was the hottest stuff since jalapeños. If he hadn't decided to go stag and sniff out vulnerable females at the dance, Emma might've had to resort to murder.

But, fortunately, she had not. Instead of going to dance at "the greatest night ever" with her dream-date, Emma was going to watch Disney movies with Neal and feed sugar to his three-year-old sister.

Much cooler, and no skeevy Jones.

* * *

Neal hadn't been planning on going to prom. It was a waste of time because it wasn't like the Spring Fling, or homecoming.

You had to _pay_ to get in, and everybody judged what you wore as if it were a wedding crossed with a beauty pageant. And it was being held on a boat, so once you got onboard, you had to stay until they got back to port. No ducking out the gym to write **ROYAL COACH** on the car of the prom king or queen. No tossing crumpled paper plates or plastic cups through the basketball hoop. No sitting on the bleachers bickering over song lyrics with Emma.

What was the point?

Besides, Neal couldn't go anyway. Belle, his stepmother who was about as far from the evil stepmother as humanly possible, had a sister named Lacey who was...as different as from Belle as humanly possible.

 _'Stripper with a heart of gold'_   might be a good phrase, though Lacey wasn't a stripper. (As far as Neal knew.) She was getting married to somebody in London that might own a strip club though. Neal wasn't really sure what "Danny" looked like, but over video-chats Lacey said he was runty, Irish, prone to swearing, but "really kind of sweet when he wasn't wound up."

Either way, it was going to be a courthouse wedding (not shotgun,) and Belle was going to be there, so she and Papa went to London for four days. Neal was in charge of not burning down the house, and keeping his baby sister Rose fed and clean. She was a good kid, barring the usual bouts of toddler irrationality, and ate anything as long as it wasn't orange. Belle's friend Ariel watched her while Neal went to school, and he picked her up and put her to bed after Belle and Papa called to say goodnight.

Only, since they were on their way back on a plane, they couldn't call in. And Rose _would not_ go to bed until her parents told her "goodnight darling" and that was the end of that discussion. Neal had tried yesterday when they ran half an hour late.

So, as he prided himself on his cleverness, Neal decided that since it was Friday and neither of them needed to be anywhere on Saturday morning, they could eat popcorn for dinner while watching Disney movies until either their parents came home, or the little bugger went to sleep on the couch.

Rose was in perfect agreement as long as she got to pick the first movie, and Neal agreed once she was bathed and in her pajamas.

When Belle moved into their big pink house, she brought a rather impressive collection of Disney DVDs with her. After sitting Beast, her teddy bear, on the sofa by Neal, Rose brought back ( _surprise!_ ) _Beauty and the Beast_. It was her favorite movie, (up until the end...) because of Belle, naturally, and was the whole reason her bear was named Beast. Neal started up the movie and Rose made sure Beast could see the TV screen, and their first movie of the night started.

It was when Maurice was entering the castle that Neal heard the knock on the door. He had asked Emma if she wanted to come by, but he wasn't sure if she would or not. She could either stay at home, go watch the Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon at the Arendelle house, hang out with Lily, or come here. Rose, however, seemed to have her own idea about who it was:

"Mama! Papa!"

"No, Rose, that's Emma!" Neal hopped over the back of the couch and hurried to catch up to her. "Remember? Emma's coming over to watch movies with us."

"Oh." Rose stopped short, staring at the door. She turned around a tugged on Neal's hand. "Emma is nice. Do I have to share my juice boxes?"

"I don't...think so...?"

For some reason that cheered Rose up, ( _the unfathomable mind of a three-year-old_...) and she trotted back to the sofa to leave Neal to opening the door. Emma was standing there with a little smile and a large purse, the one she took to the theater. Not much of a purse girl, Emma _was_ a crafty one. Which was why they didn't have to pay for candy at the movie theater. She didn't have to use the false bottom/pocket now though, so there was no telling what she brought in that big bag. As if to prove a point, she held up a bag of peanut M &Ms and grinned.

"I brought provisions."

"Peanutty ones, I like it," Neal grinned back, letting her step inside. He tried peeking in her purse as she walked by. "You got any Funyuns in there?"

* * *

Rose Gold took mainly after Belle as far as looks went. Tiny, adorable, with big blue eyes, and a great love of good stories. Her hair was lighter than Belle's chestnut curls, though, like Mr. Gold's was before his hair got so gray, and she happened to like crocodiles the way some little girls liked unicorns. Emma thought she was cute, even when she got mad at the ending of Beauty and the Beast...

"He's not Beast anymore!"

"No," Emma tried to explain. "His curse is broken-"

"He's not Beast! Now he's just a guy!"

Emma could concede that point.

A carefully measured handful of M&Ms, without peanuts, pacified Rose. She snuggled back into the cushions between Neal and Emma with her bear on her lap and her multicolored treats, looking disdainfully at the Belle and Not-Beast dancing around. Neal snickered and booped her button nose, which broke Rose's concentration.

"You look like Papa when you do thaaaat!" he sing-songed, and Rose giggled, squirming away from her big brother's poky-fingers.

"Stop it Neal!" Rose squealed, wriggling around as Neal switched from poking to tickling. " _Stoooooop iiiiiiiiit!_ "

Emma wrapped the tot up in her arms and hauled her onto her lap. "I'll save you Rose!"

"Oho! You think that keeps you safe? C'mere Nolan! I'm gonna get both of you now!"

"No! No! No, no, no!" Emma tried to shield Rose with one arm and shove her stupid brother away with the other hand. "You stop right there Neal Cassidy Gold! No! No- _Eeek! Noooooooooooooo!_ "

Crap!

He got her.

Emma switched tactics and caught her wiggling fingers under Neal's armpit. Not a place she wanted to be ordinarily, but he was super-duper ticklish there.

"Ack! _No!_ You stop that!"

"Make me! Aah! Help me out Rose!"

"Tickle-tickle-tickle!"

"Hey, hey! Whoa now- _Eeee!_ "

"Haha! You scream like a girl! _Aaah!_ "

"Heeheehee! Tickle-tickle!"

The ringing of a cellphone (eventually) ended the tickle war. It was Emma's phone, so she left Rose draped over Neal's lap while she answered it. His sister slid off his lap to go look at the DVD box and Neal took this opportunity to pick up some of the M&Ms that went flying during their battle, as well as some of their other trash.

"What?"

Neal glanced up at Emma. She was pacing now, (Emma was a restless talker,) and looked utterly baffled at _whoever_ said _whatever_.

"But you're on the boat, right?" Regina then. "Why do-You're not? So you didn't go?...When did you start dating James Bond? Wait, how did you get in the life raft in a gown?...Damn, that's impressive..."

That was a story to wrangle out of Robin later. Robin Locksley was from England, one of those "rugged" guys with charm and an accent, and slightly sticky fingers, for a cause. He was like Jones _without_ the skeevy factor and alcohol abuse, and _with_ good manners that made him presentable to your family. Regina and he had been dating for about five months, and they fit like puzzle pieces. Robin loved Regina enough to stand by her in the face of her heartless mother and psychotic sister, which meant they had gone to prom unwillingly tonight.

Until, apparently, Robin stole a life raft and brought them back to shore. Neal wasn't sure whether or not to be jealous of Robin raising the bar like that, or giving that man an award.

"Are you insane?!" Emma gasped. "His dad is coming home tonight! You can't-No he's not here yet....Okay, okay, I'll ask him."

Uh-oh.

"What does her Majesty want?" Neal asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Emma hesitated. "Can they hide out here until midnightish? They can't go back to Regina's or her mom will kill Robin."

"Uh..." On the one hand, his father could accuse him of throwing a house party with a toddler present if he came back to see that. On the other? It would piss off Cora and his father was always down for that, plus he sort of liked Regina. "Alright, but no sneaking off to use the bedrooms and no breaking into the liquor cabinet. Tell Robin I mean it."

Emma gave him a thumbs up.

"Okay! You can drop by, but no sneaking into the bedrooms, and no liquor. Okay?...Okay. See you soon...Yes, you _do_ owe us."

Rose tugged on Neal's sleeve, drawing his attention from Emma brushing her hair behind her ear. She did that a lot. "Neal? Can we watch Genie's movie now?"

"You mean _Aladdin_?" Emma asked, returning to her spot on the sofa.

"Genie!"

"In her defense," Neal said, putting the DVD in as Rose clambered up onto the sofa and settled Beast onto her lap. "The movie isn't really worth watching until Genie appears."

"Good point. Although Jasmine is pretty kicka-" Emma looked at the innocent toddler situating her teddy bear where he could see the TV. "I mean, she's cool."

"Jasmine is pretty," Rose agreed cheerfully. "She has a tiger! I'd wanna pet crocodile if I was a princess!"

* * *

Regina and Robin arrived just as Aladdin was meeting Jafar in prison. Robin's tux jacket was wrapped around Regina's shoulders, because whatever Cora Mills selected was probably strapless or backless and very cold. ( _Cold like her soul_.) They ended up sitting down in Mr. Gold's armchair, her on his lap, sharing a can of Coke. Emma was a little jealous they still looked so put together despite literally sailing away in the middle of the night in a dark harbor. How did they manage that?

"So," Neal said, on his second bag of Funyuns. "How was the prom?"

"Ugh," Regina made a sour face. "What do you think?"

"Emma, should you tell your father we sailed away so he doesn't think we drowned?" Robin asked, rather sensibly.

That wasn't a bad idea, and Emma texted her father **'Regina and Robin left, they're with me at Golds'** while Rose asked, "What's a prom?"

Regina shrugged. "It's like a ball in a Disney movie. Only stressful. And not fun."

"Oh."

Neal nudged his little sister. "Don't worry Rose, Regina was lucky. She had her True Love rescue her and sail her away to freedom."

Regina's dress wasn't the only thing red now, so was her face. Emma laughed with Robin as Aladdin wandered into the Cave of Wonders onscreen, and the poor tot just looked confused as to why her brother's friends were all laughing.

Neal was right; Once Genie showed up things got infinitely better. Rose started off giggling but once they escaped the cave, she started rubbing her eyes and yawning. It was creeping up on ten, and by the time the Prince Ali song was on, she was curled up in a ball, dozing against Neal's side.

"Do your parents know you're letting her stay up so late?" Regina asked.

"She won't go to bed until Belle and Papa call to say goodnight," Neal shrugged. "As soon as she's out good I'll put her to bed. And then I can traumatize you with _The Black_ Cauldron."

"What's _The Black Cauldron_?"

"Oh come on! It's great!"

"Never heard of it." Regina shook her head, and Robin shrugged.

Neal was more than a little geeky, one of many things Emma loved about him. Not, well, not _love-love_ , of course. No. Watching him with Rose made her think about how he'd be with his own kids, but that always made her feel silly, so Emma tried to focus on the now. Like now, Neal was snickering at Jasmine's unspoken F.U. to all the men trying to tell her what to do. Which Emma could appreciate, both Neal's sentiment and Jasmine's actions.

"What made you jump ship?" Emma asked Regina at length.

" _Ugh_ , a little bit of everything," the brunette replied. "My mother, being trapped in a limo with Zelena and her pet monkey date-"

"Walsh Osmund," Robin clarified.

"-having Isaac Heller try to paint me out as some evil queen-bee using my mother the mayor to win prom queen for the school paper, Zelena whining about how everyone was paying more attention to me than her..." she turned and kissed Robin's forehead. "You prevented murder tonight Robin. Thank you so much."

"Any time, my love," he smiled, pecking her cheek. "It was kind of romantic if you think about it. You and me, a moonlit harbor...a bright yellow life raft and one paddle?"

Emma and Neal snickered as Regina smacked her boyfriend's arm.

Rose was quite asleep by the time _Aladdin_ ended, but she stirred when Emma got up to put in a new DVD, thwarting Neal's plan to put her to sleep. Despite his pulling for _The Black Cauldron_ , Emma put _The Sword in The Stone_ in the DVD player, her favorite Disney movie. (Belle had a great collection.) Reading King Arthur in school, Emma was now certain that Arthur was absolutely helpless without Merlin telling him what to do, but the underdog-beats-the-world-with-brains-and-luck story appealed to her.

"Is this the movie with Mad Madam Mim?" Regina asked once Merlin was introduced.

"Yeah."

"I _love_ her! I mean she's mad and all but she has style."

"I like how Merlin beats her," Neal said, poking Emma's shoulder. " _Boop!_ I'm a germ and you're sick. Nyah."

"You do _not_ want to start with me again Neal Gold," Emma wiggled her fingers threateningly.

Neal put his arm around Rose, who giggled and snuggled closer.

"Hey, hey! I have a human shield. Back off Nolan."

"Hello!" his shield said.

By the time Mad Madam Mim was on, Rose was asleep for good, her and Beast draped over Neal's lap. Robin (who had never seen this movie, his parents raised him at least partially wild in the woods, it seemed,) started humming Mad Madam Mim's song and Regina started giggling because he shook her back and forth with each "mad" sung, while Regina tried not to look like she was enjoying it too much.

By the time they got to the part with the actual sword in the stone, there was a noise in the foyer. A quick peek at the clock showed it was a little after eleven-thirty and Neal sat up straight so fast he knocked Rose to the floor.

"Ow."

"Oh, _crap_ , are you okay?"

Rose didn't start crying, she seemed confused more than anything as Neal scooped her up. Emma paused the movie as a familiar _tap-thump, tap-thump_ filled the silence.

"Papa?"

Mr. Gold stepped into the living room, sweeping his dark eyes over the scene in the living room. He zeroed in on Regina and Robin, which-between Emma, the TV, the junk food, and his three-year-old up so late,-seemed to be the only thing that threw him off.

"Regina. Why are you and Mr. Locksley sitting in my armchair?"

"We're...hiding from my mother. And Zelena." Regina said, standing up slowly. "And the prom in general."

"Oh?"

"Hi Papa!" Rose squirmed to be released. "Robin saved 'Gina on a boat. I missed you."

Neal set his sister down and she ran until she collided into Mr. Gold's good leg like in a tiny bear hug. Mr. Gold sent a searching look Regina's way, but still bent down to pick up Rose.

"I missed you too, darling," he murmured, kissing her forehead. "Were you a good girl for your brother? Made sure he ate dinner and took a shower?"

"Yes. We watched Mama's movie and ate snacks for dinner."

"Tattletale," Neal accused without any heat.

Belle came in next, and plucked Rose from her father's arms. "Hello baby, what are you doing up so late?"

"She wouldn't go to bed until she heard you say goodnight, so...I improvised."

Belle nodded. Rose yawned. "Well, in that case, we'll put you to bed now and you can tell us everything in the morning, yeah?"

Another big yawn and Rose wrapped around Belle like a koala. Emma figured that was a "yes". Belle ducked out with their daughter and Gold paused a moment, sweeping his eyes over the teenagers in the living room.

"I trust you all behaved yourselves," he said, more confirming a fact rather than asking a question. "But I _will_ be finding out the boat story."

Robin turned a little pale, but Regina smirked.

"For the record? I think you'll like it."

"Shouldn't you be sneaking home now, Regina? I believe the tour boat was pulling back into harbor when we got in to town."

Robin nodded. "Right, thank you Mr. Gold, ah-"

"Rest assured Mr. Locksley," Gold held up a hand. "You needn't worry. I only want to know the details for my own amusement. Have a good night."

And he was gone. Emma had to hand it to Mr. Gold; For a short man, he had presence in a room.

Robin and Regina left in a few minutes, and Emma helped Neal clean up their mess. It was a little amazing how much junk food they ate and how tidy the three-year-old had been compared to her and Neal's mess. (Neal promised to vacuum the M&Ms and popcorn tomorrow.) They could finish the movie another time, if Emma wasn't home before midnight her mother would start thinking she'd been wrapped in plastic and stuffed in the Golds basement.

"We should do this again some time," Neal said, after retrieving a trash bag. "Finish your movie, watch _The Black Cauldron_ , maybe _Atlantis: The Lost Empire_?"

"Ooh, I _love_ that movie."

"I know right? We can't invite August though because he keeps saying that it's a ripoff of _Avatar_."

"Seriously? God. Why are we friends with that idiot?"

Neal thought for a moment, pretending to consider. "Because he's good for a laugh, he isn't always an ass, and once in a while he has a good idea when he looks past his ego?"

Emma rolled her eyes, but smiled anyway. "I love how the first thing you said is _because he's good for a laugh_."

"Well?"

"Yeah, okay," she conceded. "I would like to do this again. It'd be like how prom is supposed to be. You know, fun with friends. Maybe we can sneak in a box of wine to make it grown-up fun."

"I love the way you think Emma," Neal grinned.

Emma grabbed her stuff and followed him out the back door to take out the trash and with her coat on. She sent a text to her mother **'See u at home in 10'** as Neal dropped the bag in the can, and closed the lid.

"I'm glad we didn't go to the dance," he said, wiping his hands on his jeans. "I dunno. Maybe I'm just not social."

"No, you're social," Emma bumped shoulders with them as they walked around to the front of the house. "We're just realistic people. I mean...I wouldn't have had as much fun at a big floating party boat in a dress and makeup, as I had eating crap with you and your baby sister tonight."

"Aw, thanks," Neal teased, looping his arm through hers. "You want a ride home?"

"Do you mind?"

* * *

Did Neal mind driving Emma home?

_Never._

There were some times he drove her home that were his absolute favorites and her parents didn't know about. The favorite of those times was after their first sophomore party which involved beer, and driving a tipsy Emma home as sang loudly and off-key to "Sweet Caroline" on the radio.

( _Bum-bum-buuhhhhhhh_...)

Emma's house came into view along a nice row of suburban houses. Neal always wondered why there wasn't a white picket fence in their yard, it looked like there should've been a fence there. "Aaaaand we're here," he announced, parking his yellow bug in front of the house on the street. There was a light on, probably her mother waiting up for either Emma or Sheriff Nolan.

"Does your mom still think Papa's going to attack you and hide you in the basement?"

"She's never _said_ that, but I feel it's implied," Emma grinned.

Neal chuckled, tapping his thumb on the wheel. "So...fun prom night, huh?"

"Yeah. And I got to eat M&Ms and Junior Mints in my jeans, and kick your ass in a tickle-fight again."

"Okay," Neal held up a hand. "We have established that you can kick my ass in mortal combat ever since we fought over that little yellow car in kindergarten. Wrestling, tickling, that one time you made me eat a clod of dirt-"

"Oh god, I remember that!" Emma swatted his arm. "But I only did it 'cause you made me eat a bug."

"I didn't make you eat a bug, I said _'Hey Emma, I bet you five bucks that you won't eat this bug'_ and you did it. That was kind of impressive. Gross, but impressive."

"Oh shut up."

"No, I mean it. It was like the old lady that swallowed the fly, just _zip!_ And it was gone."

"Shut up!"

"Emma! Is that you out there?"

Neal rolled his eyes, nodding towards the now-open front door. "I think your mom's waiting."

Emma sighed, letting her head drop back against the seat. "Yeah."

Framed by the light in their doorway, Mary-Margaret craned her neck, apparently trying to see inside the car. Emma's mother was very nice, but sort of overprotective at odd times. Neal could understand that because of his father, but usually Papa didn't step right into the middle of Neal's conversations and introduce himself to his friends. Probably because most people would flee without looking back. Hmm.

Emma turned and kissed Neal on the corner of his mouth.

What?

"See you at Granny's tomorrow for lunch?"

"Uh...yeah, yeah," Neal nodded slowly. Usually dropping Emma off didn't involve kissing...anywhere. "Sure?"

Emma grinned and then the next thing he knew, she was halfway up the driveway. Probably to reassure her mother he hadn't attempted to chloroform her at any point in the evening. Kissing him probably didn't mean anything, right? She'd pecked him on the cheek before. He'd done the same thing. Yeah...

It probably wasn't a date. Really, they spent prom night with a three-year-old between them on a couch. Which had been fun...

So...

Granny's. Lunch.

Yeah.

Neal smiled as he put the bug in gear and did a U-turn back home. Yeah...lunch at Granny's.

Best Prom Night ever.


End file.
